The goal of Syracuse Healthy Start (SHS) is to decrease infant mortality rates (IMR) and enhance equity in perinatal health among all racial/ethnic subgroups, where the IMR is almost three times higher for African Americans compared to white infants. In response to long-standing disparities and Healthy People 2010 objectives, SHS instituted innovative models and projects to promote public health education and stimulate change(s) that address systems issues as well as individual factors. One mechanism being used is a Speaker Series featuring individuals with national and international expertise in disparities/inequities and/or maternal and child health issues. The proposed conference in Fall 2004 is part of the Series and will feature Camara Jones, MD, PhD of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Her expertise in social determinants of health includes the importance of environmental factors on health status. Factors such as the physical and social environments and their interplay on population health are prominent discussions in her work. Jones will address three audiences: professionals from a wide array of backgrounds and disciplines, a lay audience of residents from disenfranchised communities, and a small group (21 individuals) who are in positions to affect systems change. All three audiences will include men and women and will have minority representation. The specific goal of this meeting is to broaden local thinking on environmental determinants of health, and to help create a receptive climate of systems change among individuals at all levels of community. Family Ties Network (FTN), the local perinatal network, is the administrative organization of the Series.